PSOJ Satisfied With Fiscal Programme—Dennis Chung

The Government received thumbs up for its fiscal and legislative programme on Thursday, July 16, when the Partnership for Jamaica, chaired by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, met for its second annual retreat at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.

In making the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica’s (PSOJ) presentation at the retreat, the entity’s Executive Director, Dennis Chung said: “it is clear the reform programme must be maintained and cannot be derailed by election”.  The PSOJ lauded the fact that fiscal targets are being met and that there are improvements in the macroeconomic indicators.

In canvassing membership views, the PSOJ said the MSME Alliance highlighted the fact that “over the last two years significant changes and the introduction of new legislation have improved ease of doing business with Government. Noteworthy is the recognition by Government that specific interventions were needed to assist MSMEs, especially at the small and micro level, with fundamentals such as financial and business literacy and organisational training in corporate governance”.

The MSME Alliance said the tax offices have improved their online payment system, “saving business users a lot of in-line time with online processing and payments.”

The Alliance said   the Ministry  of Agriculture,  the Trade Board,  the Bureau of Standards and the Customs Department  have all “significantly reduced their processing time through automation and commonsensical changes in processes, which saw  improvements and hence reduction in waiting time by users.”

The Alliance said there is still need for improvements in some areas of Government operations, but “ongoing improvement is generally taking place and does invoke a sense of confidence that things are moving in the right direction.”

The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) was also upbeat according to a paper prepared by the PSOJ.

“The new Fiscal Incentives Act has simplified doing business and allows current and new investors to know exactly how to navigate in terms of incentives available,” the paper noted.

The JHTA also praised the upgrade of Customs, which has resulted in greater automation and simplification of processes. The entity called for more efforts to reduce red tape and bureaucracy, while noting that “from a macroeconomic point of view there is great improvement.”

The PSOJ made several recommendations for further improvements, while acknowledging the progress made over the last two years.

Mr. Chung praised, particularly, the work of the Tourism Linkages Council, chaired by Tourism Minister, Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill.

In the macroeconomic area, he said it was noteworthy that in March this year Jamaica, for the first time since 2004, achieved a surplus on its capital account of the balance of payments.